


Not With Haste

by APrettySonnet



Series: Wild Heart [2]
Category: Mercy Thompson Series - Patricia Briggs
Genre: Ben Shaw has mad computer skills, Developing Relationship, Kyle and Ben flirting, M/M, Mild Language, Multi, Pre-Poly, Pre-Relationship, Relationship Discussions, Relationship Negotiation, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Warren Smith is a Luddite, sexual innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 07:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APrettySonnet/pseuds/APrettySonnet
Summary: After Warren's computer goes on the fritz, Ben comes over to help fix it.





	Not With Haste

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after Broken Crown but before For Those Below. 
> 
> Mercyverse au - eventual Warren/Kyle/Ben

“I just don’t know what happened. It was working fine, and then that blue nonsense popped up,” Warren explains to Ben, his slow honeyed Texas accent rounding the vowels, as he points at the blue screen on the monitor.

“Blue screen of Fucking Death,” Ben mutters distractedly as he begins the system restore process on Warren’s ancient PC. “You should just save me the time trying to fix this sodding stupid brick and junk it. Start over. Nuke it from bloody orbit. It’s running Windows 7 for fuck’s sake!”

“I don’t want a new computer, Ben, this one usually works just fine,” Warren huffs, feeling offended on his computer’s behalf. It was old, granted, but it worked for what he needed it to do. Ben’s computer prowess made him feel like a Luddite most of the time, especially now as the younger wolf typed furiously on the keyboard in a screen Warren had never seen before.

“Don’t worry your pretty head, Warren, I’ll save your porn,” Ben teased with one of his rare smiles on his face. Warren was normally spared Ben’s teasing, so he’s not sure how to respond. Before he can respond, Kyle sashays into the room to set a loaded tray down on the desk next to Ben.

“Beer and brownies for our savior. Thank god you’re here to save this wretched machine,” he says, then whispers conspiratorially into Ben’s ear, “Please don’t, I’ve been trying to get him to buy something new for ages.”

With a wink to Warren, Kyle very obviously leans over Ben’s shoulders to watch the blond work. Ben smirks at Warren, but doesn’t shrug Kyle off, as if waiting to see how Warren was going to react to his mate being draped across Ben’s back. Warren ignores them in favor of snagging a beer off the tray, cracking it open as he relaxes on the old beat up couch that takes up most of the back wall of Warren’s office.  From this angle, he has a fantastic view of Kyle’s ass.

It had been a month since their fight, where Ben had ended up airing details his ugly past to Kyle in a fit of rage, and tried what he called an attempt at “friendship suicide”. He and Kyle had made up, thankfully, and Ben had forgiven Warren for jumping to the wrong conclusions when he’d come in at the end of the argument. They’d had a long talk on the couch that night, sharing bits of their pasts with Ben, because it was only fair, as Kyle had said reasonably. It had given them more insight into what made Ben tick, and now they knew what most of his hot buttons were so they could avoid them. As a result, the three of them were closer than before, cementing their friendship into something more akin to family.

Kyle and Ben’s good-natured flirting had ramped up since then, too.  Warren knew it was a game they played but it made him roll his eyes whenever they started up with the banter and innuendo. Kyle had confessed one night not too long ago, after a few martinis, he liked to take it just far enough to fluster Ben and make the tips of his ears go pink. Kyle found it adorable and charming, but it happened rarely. Adorable and charming were typically not words associated with Ben.

Since that night, Ben had also become more… Warren figured the closest word for it was affectionate, if you could apply that word to Ben. He’d pretty much stopped turning into his Wolf if he wanted to be physically touched, though he would still do so from time to time, sprawling out over both Kyle and Warren like a large red blanket. Lately he’d start in his usual spot at the far edge of the couch and would slowly creep over as the movie progressed just close enough that Warren could put his arm on the back of the couch and play with his hair. Kyle would crawl between them shortly after, with his back against Warren and his legs over Ben’s lap. The other night he’d even relaxed enough to fall asleep during a particularly dull movie, slumping over against them. Kyle had grinned up at Warren, obviously delighted because he had mentioned how he’d been worried for ages over how touch-starved Ben was.

While he’d been slowly changing for the better over the last year, Ben had made leaps and bounds over the past month. Ben no longer stood outside the door awkwardly every time he was invited over, and had even used his key to let himself in earlier when they’d asked him to look at Warren’s old computer. When Kyle would mention on the phone that he needed to run to the store for the odd carton of milk or a loaf of bread to go with dinner, Ben would offer to pick it up on his way over, with only a little grousing. He’d also pick up other little things he would remember seeing on the running grocery list that was kept on the refrigerator door, just because. Kyle would thank Ben for being so thoughtful and Ben would preen under the praise. Kyle would give Warren a look so smug that he’d have to kiss it right off his face. Ben had stopped turning to look elsewhere now, and seemed keenly interested in what they were doing. He and Kyle needed to have a conversation about that, but they never did.

The changes had also started affecting how he was accepted by the pack, though he could still be just as rude and grouchy as ever. He’d been on friendlier term with people, especially since he had made a point to help set up a server for the weekly game of The Dread Pirate’s Booty at Adam and Mercy’s. He’d even gone so far as to help some of the more… technologically challenged… pack members with setting up the game on their laptops.  Everyone who participated in game night seemed to love how he’d get into his pirate character, Sodding Bart, and several of his more colorful piratical curses had taken root in the pack.

The most damning evidence of his change in behavior was that he’d even stuck up for one of the secretaries at work, a fact that caused a lot of raised eyebrows. Ben got huffy when asked about it because “no one fucks with my secretary except for me”. Adam had called it growth and was very pleased with Ben’s new upward mobility in the pack. He had high hopes that Ben was coming to terms with his personal demons and would continue to thrive.

Warren is startled from his reverie as Ben makes a crude computer joke that has Kyle snorting with the ugly little laugh that Warren loves so much. Ben says something rude about it and Kyle shoves a brownie into his mouth to shut him up. They’re laughing and touching and Warren smiles at their antics, oddly at ease with how close Kyle and Ben are. He’s sure that if it were anyone other than Ben that close to his mate, he’d be a snarling, jealous, and possessive wreck of a werewolf.

His wolf is strangely quiet where Ben is concerned. The wolf trusts Ben, both to keep Kyle protected and safe and to have Warren’s back if it came to a fight. After being a lone wolf for so long, where he couldn’t trust anyone but himself, it felt strange to be able to count on Ben in that capacity. That went a long way, and Warren overlooked a lot of things Ben did that he probably shouldn’t.

Several beers and brownies later, Warren and Kyle are cuddling on the couch looking at their phones when Ben stops clicking the mouse and spins around in the chair to face them. The computer monitor behind him shows Warren’s desktop screensaver - a picture of Warren and Kyle kissing in silly party hats with glasses of champagne that was taken last New Year’s - but there were far fewer files on it than before.

“Your piece of shit is working again,” Ben announced smugly, motioning Warren over to give him a rundown of what he’d done to fix the PC, “I had to update the BIOS to fix the fucking thing, then I updated your sodding antivirus and some outdated drivers. When the fuck did you last run an update on that? There was a bollock’s load of viruses that needed to be fixed, probably from your porn sites, so I installed an ad aware program to take care of the worst of it. Then I cleared some of the redundant files and consolidated the files on your desktop into folders you can click on. If you ever so much as save another bloody thing to your desktop so help me god I will hurt you! I also did some other magic computer shit you won’t understand so it runs faster than a bloody snail’s pace. You’re fucking welcome.”

“You’re pretty ballsy assuming I’m looking at porn,” Warren said with a mock growl. He didn’t understand most of what Ben had just said but was impressed nonetheless. He leaned over and clicked one of the new folders and it opened up to show a number of the files that previously littered the desktop. This would do.

“If you’re going to try to lie, you should learn how to clean out your cache first,” Ben says with a toothy grin. Warren chooses not to say anything else that could be damning and makes a mental note to figure out how to clean out whatever a cache is.

“Thank you, Ben. That was mighty helpful,” Warren finally says as he squeezes Ben’s shoulder affectionately. Ben looks pleased for a moment then starts grousing, poking Warren’s arm with a long, pale finger.

“You still need a new PC. There’s only so much I can bloody do with hardware that’s older than the dinosaurs. You should back up your important files to my private server just in case it decides to take a crap again and I can’t fix the bloody thing. Same goes for you, boy toy.”

“If you wanted to look at my porn collection, you could always just ask. I’d be happy to send you some of my favorites,” Kyle offers breezily from where he was sprawled on the couch, engrossed in his phone. Warren chuckles as Ben’s ears go pink at the tips and mutters that he should fuck off already. Kyle was right, it was definitely cute, but he’d never admit it aloud. Warren didn’t have to turn around to know that a smug smile was plastered on Kyle’s face.

“As a thank you, how about we order something and watch a movie? Ben’s pick?” Warren offers as a change of subject just as Kyle gets up and starts gathering the empty beer bottles and cans. “What do you want to watch tonight, Ben?”

“Actually, I should go. It’s game night at Adam’s place and I have to kick some pirate booty,” Ben says after he swigs the last of the beer from the bottle and sets it on the tray.

“Can’t you skip it tonight? We’d love for you to stay a bit longer.”

“He’s right. Warren, maybe we should sweeten the deal?  Ben probably wants something nicer as his thank you than take-out. What do you want, Ben? You can have anything you want,” Kyle counters as he deposits the empties on the tray and picks it up.

“You shouldn’t offer me anything I want. That’s opening Pandora’s fucking box and I don’t think either of you will like what you find inside. Besides, you want me to miss out on Mercy’s chocolate chip cookies?” Ben asks seriously. Everyone knew Mercy made the best cookies.

“While I haven’t been interested in Pandora’s Box since I realized I like men, I would dearly love to know what Pandora has in it for you,” Kyle teases.

“Cookies, apparently. I wouldn’t put up too much of a fight, Ben. I know firsthand, Kyle always gets what he wants.” Warren deadpans and hauls Ben out of the chair and to his feet only to loop his arm across Ben’s shoulder. Warren exchanges a look with Kyle and they both turn to Ben expectantly.

“Of course I do. I got you didn’t I? Ben, I know we can’t compete with Mercy’s cookies, but can I tempt you with something else? We should take you to that nice steakhouse! That’s the place I took Warren for our first date, and the steaks are amazing.” Kyle sets the tray back down and slides between the two men, wrapping his arms around their waists. He’s tiny between them, just tall enough to just reach their shoulders. He turns his face towards Ben and gives him his best pout, “Please, Ben?”

“Your pouty face won’t work on me, luv,” Ben says with a laugh as he tweaks Kyle’s nose.

“It was worth a try. Tomorrow night, then? You, me, Warren, and the best steaks you’ve ever had. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy being in the middle of this werewolf sandwich,” He says lightly. He winks broadly at Ben then leans his head back to expose his throat as he bats his eyes coquettishly at his mate.

Warren can’t resist leaning down to steal a deep kiss. When he lifts his head, Ben is watching. Again. He suddenly feels acutely aware of how intimately close Ben is. He clears his throat and looks sheepishly at the younger man, “Sorry, Ben.”

“Don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying the show,” he responds, all toothy grin and innuendo. There’s a very slight yellow tinge to Ben’s blue eyes and he holds Warren’s gaze a moment too long before dropping his eyes down to look at Kyle.

“I don’t know if you can handle the full show, Ben,” Kyle replies automatically, head turning from Warren to look up at Ben with a saucy grin. Kyle doesn’t seem to notice the yellow in Ben’s eyes as he leans his head against Ben’s chest with a laugh, “Teasing you is too easy.”

It dawns on Warren that they’re skirting a very dangerous line.  He has the urge to reel Ben closer, to bite him or kiss him, maybe both, and then do the same to Kyle. Both options stir something deep in his belly and he doesn’t want to acknowledge the feeling. The tension between the three of them is stretched tight, like a tightrope that’s ready to snap under too much weight. One wrong move and they’re going to fall. He’s not sure if they’ll survive it.

“You shouldn’t tease werewolves, Kyle, they might bite,” Warren says suddenly to break the tension, as he disentangles himself from the embrace. With a mock growl he tickles Kyle’s sides, just hard enough to elicit a squeal and a reflexive jump from his mate. Kyle wriggles away from Warren’s tickling hands as fast as he can and suddenly, the tension between them is gone and normality resumes.

“That’s right, you don’t want us to bite you,” Ben says as if coming out of a daze, and turns to gather his toolkit from the computer desk. “I’m going to get out of here, but tomorrow you’re both taking me out for this magical steak. It better be as good as you say it is.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll love it. Six work for you?” Kyle says while grabbing the tray stacked with empty beer bottles.

“Thanks again for fixing my computer, Ben. I truly appreciate everything you do for us,” Warren offers, clapping Ben on the shoulder. They head downstairs and Kyle drops the tray into the kitchen while Ben pulls his boots out of the pile of shoes next to the front door, slipping them on quickly.

“We’ll see you here at six. I’m sure Kyle will want us to all go in his Jag.” Warren grabs Ben’s coat from the closet and helps him put it on.

“Damn straight, we’re taking the Jag,” Kyle says as he comes into the foyer and wraps Ben in goodbye hug. “You should have just told him it was past the point of being fixable, but I forgive you. Really, Ben, thank you.”

“No problem,” he replies, gently hugging back then reaching for the door knob, “It’s the least I can do for you guys. I’ll make sure to think of you later when I’m eating Mercy’s cookies and kicking pirate booty. Yarr!”

Warren wraps his arms around Kyle as they watch him get in his red Chevy truck and drive off. Warren huffs a sigh into Kyle’s hair and nuzzles there for a moment. They needed to talk about what just happened upstairs, but Warren was damned if he knew how that was going to go. He’d need to apologize to his mate for the near indiscretion, if nothing else.

“Warren, baby, what happened upstairs? I thought for a second you were going to kiss Ben senseless.”

“I really don’t know, Kyle. I thought I might, too, and I don’t know why. I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again,” Warren admits quietly, feeling ashamed of his lack of control. Kyle turns in his lover’s arms, and reaches up to cup his face and look Warren in the eyes until he continues, “You know I love you more than I thought it was ever possible to love another person, and I am yours for the rest of our lives, but for a moment… I don’t know what I was thinking,”

“It’s okay. I’m not angry. Things got out of hand and it happened. We were flirting and it escalated until you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. I’m partially to blame for that, and I’m sorry, too. I’m just wondering if we’re as monogamous as we thought we were. I thought the whole “werewolf mates” thing put a permanent kibosh on threesomes.”

“Huh. I wonder about that, too. If anyone else touched you, I would probably lose my mind, but Ben, though...”

“I know that, baby. I feel the same way. Ben is… unique… in that has managed to worm his way into our lives so completely that this was bound to happen eventually. He needs to get laid. “

“You think so? You know even having this conversation is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. He’s been broken for a long time, he has issues with touch, hell, and we don’t even know if he’s even really into men.”

“He’s more into men than I think any of us realizes, including himself. Or he’s really into us since we’re safe and he trusts us. Either way, I think he really wants to watch us make love, maybe even do some kissing and light petting, but you’re right about the touch issues. I can’t see that going well.”

“No, I can’t see that ending well, either. Can we forget this happened for now?” Warren asks as he drops kisses on Kyle’s beautiful face.

“So I’ve lost my chance at being the creamy center of a werewolf sandwich?” Kyle mock pouts and bats his eyelashes seductively.

“You’re a menace. I’m going to drag you upstairs and make love to you until the neighbors complain about the noise,” Warren says, kissing Kyle like he was a starving man presented with a feast.

“Mmmm… yes, please? But what about Ben?” Kyle asks as he starts to unbutton Warren’s shirt.

“He’s going to have to deal with the noise, too.”

“I meant about what happened today. We’re basically sweeping it under the rug without any resolution or plan.”

“How about this? If Ben continues to get his life together and gets to a place where we think he can handle us taking him to bed, we’ll revisit this. Until then we’ll be careful that this doesn’t happen again. Do we have a deal?”

“Sounds like a solid deal to me. Now carry me upstairs and show me just how you plan on making me scream.”

“Will do, Darlin’.”


End file.
